So recently I've started using the alternate HUD layout and have become a fan of it. The main thing that I like about it is that it lets you know what weapons you're holding at a quick glance, however, the icons are not very discernible from each other except for the little number. What I would like to do is create an icon set with an easily recognizable icon for each weapon that will let me know the weapons I'm holding with a quicker glance. Is there any way to do this?

Pyromace wrote:Is there any way to do this?

Shure...
Open data*.pk3 (it's just an ordanary zip file, either rename the file or start a zip archiver of your choice and use the open function) and extract gfx/inv_weapon[0-8].tga to Nexuiz/data (e.g. Nexuiz/data/gfx/inv_weapon0.tga). Now you can edit the files with any image editor...

cool. thanks. i figured it was something like that, i just wasn't sure which files i would need to alter.

i was thinking. is there a way to do this and have it be part of a separate pk3 file, kinda like the new sound pack that was released? that way i wouldn't have to change any of the original pk3 files.

You most definitely can and rightfully should!

pk3's are basically a transparent solution for running updated code on top of the 'data pack', called something like data20080511.pk3.

Consider the Nexuiz data directory (~/.nexuiz/data on OSX/Linux || /Nexuiz/data on Windows) the root of your package and creative a zip archive relative to this.

You want to update files in the gfx folder, so your package would have to have a gfx folder inside it with the files you're updating. Rename the zip to .pk3, drop it in your Nexuiz data directory and it should load when Nexuiz starts.

I go into a little more depth on this topic here if you need.

Thanks -z-. I figured out the pk3 thing no problem. Now I've run into a couple things I'm not sure I can fix without changing code, but I'll ask anyway.

First, is there any way to get rid of the little numbers that show up in the corner of the icons? If I have easily recognizable icons these numbers would be pointless.

Second, when I replace the icon with my test icon, it still has a semi-transparent white background even if the alpha channel on my new icon is completely transparent, can I get rid of that?

I haven't looked into it, so don't take this as anything more than an educated guess.

I believe both the background and the number are controlled by the engine.

In theory it's as easy as commenting out the two lines responsible for those actions and recompiling the engine to suit your needs (though some developers may ache at reading that solution).

Of course, this probably more than it's worth for you.

yeah, i'm totally not into going into the code for this. i was afraid of that though.

Alright, so I managed to figure out my problem with the alpha channels and i've started making the weapon icons. They're just so small now in the alternate HUD. Is there a console command to make the inv icons always show in the standard hud instead of just when you switch weapons or pick up a new weapon?

so i've finished at least a first draft of my new weapon icons and here they are...



if you're interested in downloading the pk3 of these icons they can be downloaded here:

http://www.whoiszach.com/nexuiz/pyroicons.pk3

These are looking very cool.
Simple, but I like that. The simpler, the better. Making the stuff more recognizable.

that was the idea, to keep them simple and easy to recognize that way you can see what weapons you're holding with a quick glance.

Hm, I think I've figured out what each icon shall represent as ammo except the first one. Don't tell me it's laser, as laser doesn't require ammo and has no pickups.

it's laser because there is an inv icon for laser and i replaced them all

Those took me a minute to work out

They do look good though.

It would get easier to recognize after you play for a while. I like them.

The icons looks bad with 'sbar_hudselector 1' which I use... not sure how to fix that.

morfar wrote:The icons looks bad with 'sbar_hudselector 1' which I use... not sure how to fix that.

yeah, that's what i use too because it's the only hud where the icons are on screen at all times. They don't look so great because they're sized down so much. i'm not sure there's anything i can do about that though. I didn't know if I had to make the new icons the same size as the old ones, but I did, and I haven't bothered to try and make resized ones with photoshop to try and make the small ones look better. maybe i will though.

i know at least personally though that even though they don't look so great. they've still helped a lot for being able to glance down and see what weapons i'm holding so at least as far as that it's mission accomplished.

Since your icons are pretty simple you might want to use vector graphics as a base, so that you can scale this stuff as often as you want.

[GF]HarryButt wrote:Since your icons are pretty simple you might want to use vector graphics as a base, so that you can scale this stuff as often as you want.

that's true, they already look vector anyway. i haven't used illustrator much but perhaps i should give it a try.

so i made a sized down set to use for the alternate hud layout. they look a little better than the first set for this particular hud layout.

comparison shot:


top is old set and bottom is the new set with pre-sized down icons.
download the small icons here:
http://www.whoiszach.com/nexuiz/pyroicons_sm.pk3

i also recommend setting sbar_alpha_fg to 2 or 3 to make them more visible.

I'm just curious if people are actually using these and what they think. Any suggestions?

I really like your icons, they are much easier to "read" than the old ones and that is most important, that's also the reason why I use yours.

The scaling problem with the alternative HUD is not so obvious at 1280x1024, but I don't use it anyways.

The only suggestion I have is to make the Rocket-Launcher icon a lot "fatter", in my opinion it is to small (too less visible) compared to the Laser or Shotgun icons.

Include the file for the Rocket Launcher :]

cool, well i'm glad some other people are getting some use of these besides myself.

Cream wrote:Include the file for the Rocket Launcher :]

not really sure what you mean by this Cream. could you be more specific?

Well in the attached file I found the icons for weapons 1-8, but no 9. I downloaded it a few times but it isnt in there! My rocket launcher ingame still has the regular icon included with Nexuiz. Don't know if its something I did wrong or something. Anyway they're great so keep on keeping on.

did you download the regular ones or the small ones cream?

The big ones, but I noticed the same problem with the small ones. Has this happened to anyone else or just me?

I just rechecked as well Cream and 8 is the RL, that's because it starts at 0, not 1. So I'm not sure what the problem might be if you RL icon isn't working.